Bello Welsh LLP

CLIENT ALERT – More and More Municipalities Are Legislating Paid Sick Leave

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Philadelphia is poised to join a growing list of cities and states (including Portland, Oregon; Seattle; and San Francisco) which in the last few years have begun to require employers to provide paid sick time (“PST”) to their employees. These laws allow employees to receive limited paid time off to care for their own health or the health of a family member, and, in some cases, for leave directly related to medical, social or legal services needed when an employee or their loved one becomes a victim of stalking, domestic violence or sexual abuse. Employers with pre-exiting PTO policies must ensure these policies meet the minimum accrual requirements and that employees may use the leave for the purposes provided in the laws. Employers must comply with notice and recordkeeping requirements to avoid penalties and litigation.

Bello Welsh LLP

CLIENT ALERT – New York City Passes Ordinance Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Unemployment Status

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Effective June 11, 2013, the New York City Human Rights Law is amended to prohibit employers and employment agencies from discriminating against job applicants on the basis of unemployment status. The law also prohibits employers/employment agencies from publishing advertisements for any job in New York City that indicates that current employment is a requirement or qualification for a job, or that an employer/employment agency will not consider currently unemployed individuals. Although the law provides certain clarifying provisions regarding permissible hiring practices, employers/employment agencies subject to the law are strongly encouraged to review their hiring practices, including job advertisements, employment applications, and interview practices, in order to ensure compliance with the law prior to June 11, 2013.

Bello Welsh LLP

CLIENT ALERT – Department of Labor Issues Revised FMLA Regulations

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The United States Department of Labor has issued revised regulations to the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that go into effect March 8, 2013. The revised regulations implement recent statutory amendments to the military leave provisions of the FMLA, update the FMLA notice employers must post, and contain other minor changes. The revised regulations also contain a number of provisions specific to airline flight crew members, which are not relevant to most employers.

Most importantly, employers must begin posting the revised FMLA notice beginning March 8th. The revised poster is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/fmlaen.pdf. The regulations continue to require that employers’ FMLA policies include all of the information contained in the FMLA poster. As such, employers must also revise their FMLA policies to reflect the revisions to the poster, including the substantive changes to the section on military leave entitlement.

If you would like more information on the changes to the regulations, a side-by-side comparison of the former and new regulations is available on the Department of Labor’s website (http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/2013rule/comparison.htm).